Who are you and what have you done with my baby?

I don't know if we've turned the corner or just got lucky for a day, but my demanding little fuss pot was a PERFECT baby yesterday. Okay, well I think he's pretty darn perfect everyday but he's a lot more enjoyable when he's cooing and smiling or sleeping peacefully than screaming his little head off. If we could have more and more days like yesterday, I might start to feel pretty confident with this whole mommy business.

Saturday night he slept so well. His normal 2-3 hour stretches of sleep turned into 3-4 hours and he woke up a happy little baby. Mat and I decided to go out to Starbuck's for breakfast and for the first time every little MJ just slept peacefully as we sat outside talking and eating. When we got home, I took him for a walk and then it was time for him to eat. Then, I gave him a bath and he actually enjoyed it rather than screamed. Afterwards he took a nice long nap in HIS CRIB. Yes, I realize that doesn't sound all that exciting but since we brought him home he's been sleeping in his pack n play in our room at night and either his swing or bouncy seat for naps. And that's only once you get him rocked to sleep. He requires lots of motion and movements. You can bet that as soon as the vibration setting on the bouncy seat goes off, he wakes up and cries. We've been wanting him to do some naps in the crib in his room so that he'll be ready to transition in there at night soon. But the couple times that we've tried to lay him in his plain ol non swinging and vibrating crib, he lets us know it does not meet his standards, by promptly turning red faced and crying out. But not yesterday! I swaddled him up, laid it in it, turned on some music, and he fell asleep completely on his own. After waking, he was a little trooper as we went and visited a colleague of Mat's who had been in a car accident. He was all smiles and quite the cute little baby. Then, he went along with us as we met Jeff for dinner. Again, he slept through the entire meal! 2 for 2! He went along for ice cream without a peep too. On the way home, the crying began but he was due to eat so it was to be expected. After eating though he was a content little guy and Mat, Jeff, and I were all able to watch a movie along with Mathew who went back and forth between dozing and checking out all his surroundings with those big blue eyes! It actually felt like a normal life again. It was an amazingly wonderful day! Not to mention the weather was just gorgeous to be out and about in. I felt so thankful to be with my 2 boys. It felt like our first true family day together and I couldn't help but think about just how far we'd come. I know there will probably be plenty more fussy days to come, but hopefully more and more good ones to balance it out and bring back a little sense of normalcy.

I had my first sad mommy moment as I had to pack away some of Mathew's clothes already. He's begun to outgrow many of his newborn outfits. I realized last week when I had taken him out and was watching one of my friends hold him, that his little newborn pants looked like man capris and knew that it was time to part with them. I just can't believe he's on to the next size already. We're starting to notice developments though. He seems to be cooing and making little baby noises more often and we are getting smiles on a daily basis now. I think he's also beginning to recognize our voices as he turns to look at us when he hears one of us. He holds his head up for the most part now, unless he's really sleepy. It's just amazing to watch him develop and grow. We got a call from Early Steps this week. We were referred to them as they are a completely free service that, from what I understand, will help us monitor his development and be aware of any delays that might occur due to the lack of oxygen he had at birth. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but just based on his level of alertness even back in the NICU (once he came off sedation) to his changes and developments since we've brought him home, I don't foresee any major problems.

He's certainly a cutie that keeps us smiling. I'm constantly grabbing my camera to capture his sweet expressions, cute moments, and even some full on cry fests as you'll see. Here's some photos from weeks 4-5 of his life! http://keyeswindingroad.shutterfly.com/180